Mamie Taylor Cocktail

It seems the Savoy gets this “2 limes” craziness from Judge Jr.’s prohibition book, “Here’s How”. Unless they are unusually small limes, 1 is plenty. In fact most recipes call only for the juice of half a lime. The Savoy also fails to note that the proper whisky for the drink is Scotch. Oh, and it is usually made over ice.

Extremely popular in the early part of the 20th Century, the Mamie Taylor fell out of favor during prohibition and never really recovered.

Which is too bad, as it is really quite an enjoyable and refreshing drink.

I know I recently read an article or write up about the drink. I thought it was in David Wondrich’s “Imbibe!”. However, paging through, I don’t see it. I suspect it may have been one of Ted Haigh’s columns for the magazine Imbibe.

“It was while Miss Taylor was the prima donna of an opera company playing at Ontario Beach, near Rochester, in 1899,” he said, “that she was asked with a number of other members of the company to go out sailing on the lake. As the day was hot and the breeze rather strong, the party returned after a few hours longing for some cooling refreshments. When Miss Taylor was asked what she would have she expressed the wish for a long but not strong drink–in fact, a claret lemonade. When the drink was served it was very evident that it wasn’t a claret lemonade, for it looked like a delicious long drink of sparkling champagne. On tasting it Miss Taylor found it much to her liking, but asked to have the flavor softened with a piece of lemon peel. When this was done the new combination drink was declared a complete success. Bystanders had been watching the proceedings and noticing the evident enjoyment with which Miss Taylor and a few of her friends relished in new drink they finally asked the hotel keeper what drink it was that was being served to them and without hesitation the hotel man replied “a Mamie Taylor” and the name seemed to meet with instantaneous favour and has become famous all over the country.”

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.

It’s hard to say regarding fruit. I expect, in general, that most citrus was smaller, so I try to pick smaller limes, lemons, and oranges when I’m at the farmers’ markets. Specifically, there’s really no way to say. Judge Jr.’s book, where this recipe came from, was an American prohibition era book. The recipe wasn’t really “English”. But I expect there’s no way that citrus was as fresh, unless it was local and seasonal, as I have available to me now.